Bankruptcy Overview
Evolution and Recommendations for Change
The American bankruptcy system is as much about economic progress and stability as it is economic failure. Since 1978, when Congress adopted the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, the law has helped families, farms, and businesses, saving countless jobs, while providing creditors with a fair opportunity for repayment and recovery. Yet it is, unavoidably, an imperfect and adversarial system. Credit extended in good faith is not repaid. There are abuses, at times substantial and widespread, by some debtors and by some creditors. The consequences of poor economic judgment or misfortune, whether individual or business, are borne in part by those who were…